


In a Second

by Fujiwara_no_Seimei



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-05
Updated: 2011-07-05
Packaged: 2017-10-21 01:45:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/219528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fujiwara_no_Seimei/pseuds/Fujiwara_no_Seimei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since he lost his powers and retired, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi has changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In a Second

It had only been six months since he retired, but Kotetsu Kaburagi looked like a completely different man, Barnaby noted.

“It’s been a while,” Barnaby said as Kotetsu sat across from him in the diner booth.  
“Ha, well. I know what a hero’s schedule is like, after all,” Kotetsu said. “So no hard feelings.”  
Barnaby smiled. “How is she?”  
“Kaede?” Kotetsu said, lighting up visibly. “Oh, great. Great! She placed second in the county skating competition last week. I watched her, it was beautiful! She’s such an amazing girl. Eleven years old, and she’s going to a state competition! And I can take her there myself...”

Kotetsu _was_ a different man.

“How is your... new job?” Barnaby asked when Kotetsu stopped talking about Kaede long enough to order a burger.  
“Ah? Oh, well. It’s boring, or course. Office jobs... never liked them much. But I don’t have any other talents, and I am getting old, you know. For real this time. I'll be forty this year. But it’s regular, and I get to have meals with my mother and daughter every day. It’s the best I can get right now, you know?”

“Yeah,” Barnaby replied. Lying.

He _didn’t_ know.

“Congratulations on being MVP for the second year in a row!” Kotetsu bubbled suddenly. “The other heroes can’t even touch you!”

“Yeah. Thanks,” Barnaby said, voice flat.

“How’s ol’ Ivan doing? He’s really coming into his own, huh? Ranking second like that.”

“Oh, well. He’s got so much spirit now that his friend was released from prison. They’re living together now, it’s really quite sweet. He talks about him all the time.”

“Ha,” Kotetsu said. “Amazing what having a good friend in your life can do!”

Barnaby visibly lurched. Did Kotetsu even understand what he was saying?

“Barnaby? Are you alright?”

No, no, he couldn’t cry now. Now was not the time to cry. But running off wouldn’t do any good–

“Barnaby? Hey, don’t get upset. What’s wrong?”

“BUNNY!” Barnaby shouted, head up and eyes glistening. Furious. The look on Kotetsu’s face snapped him back to reality. God. What was getting into him?  
“Bunny,” he repeated, gentle, but still shaky. “Please... call me Bunny.”

When had Kotetsu’s hand covered his own?

“I thought you hated that nickname,” Kotetsu said, solemn.  
“Me too,” Barnaby said, quietly.

The waitress came with the food, and the two quickly pulled their hands back from one another’s on the table.

They ate in silence for a while.

“Does anyone ask about me?” Kotetsu finally said, almost done with his what-was-once a burger.  
Barnaby looked up.  
“All the time, Kotetsu.” His voice was still quiet. Noticing this, he spoke up, trying to sound happier. “But Antonio keeps us filled in, most of the time. Karina asks after you a lot. You know her.”

Kotetsu didn’t understand. But then again, he’d always found Karina particularly puzzling.

The waitress swung by again, this time dropping the bill, a partially folded, handwritten strip with “Thank You!” on the back, on the table. Kotetsu reached for it, but Barnaby snatched it out from under his hand.  
“Let me,” Barnaby said.

Kotetsu just smiled and shrugged. "If you say so."

Barnaby paused. Looked up at Kotetsu. Almost horrified.

“...aren’t you going to fight with me for it?”

Kotetsu raised his eyebrows. “What for? You always win anyway. I just thought we could skip all that this time–”

“That’s not the point!” Barnaby shouted, slamming a fist onto the table. He was losing his cool again, but this time, he didn’t stop himself. So what if he made a scene?  
“You’re supposed to fight with me because that’s who you are! You’re a stubborn old man who likes to have the last word! That dotes to until everyone's annoyed! That gets in the way and says stupid things and–”

Shit. He was crying again. And now the whole diner was looking at him in addition to Kotetsu.

“At least... you _were_. That’s who you _were_.”

Kotetsu’s eyes grew sad. Knowing. Father-like... from what Barnaby could remember of such a look.

Kotetsu took the bill from Barnaby’s hand, put a $20 bill on top of it on the table, and took his ex-partner’s hand, standing up.  
“Come on, Bunny,” he said. “Let’s go.”  
As he stood up, Kotetsu slung and arm around his shoulder.

Once outside, Kotetsu turned Barnaby square to him. Looked at his face. Used his thumb to wipe a tear off of his cheek.

“Maybe you should go, now,” Kotetsu said.  
“But... Kotetsu. I... hardly get to see you, so...” God, he sounded awful. Like a child. A spoiled child. He hated it. But he hated _this_ even more.

“I don’t think I’m the one you want to see, Bunny,” he said, shaking his head. “I think... seeing me instead... is only going to hurt you more.”

Barnaby blinked, vision blurry. “I’m sorry,” he said. Didn’t know why he said it.

Kotetsu pulled him into a hug. It was a deep hug. An embrace. Barnaby felt like he was melting into it.

“Are you happy, old man?” Barnaby whispered into his shirt.  
Kotetsu started to feel like he was going to tear up too. It sounded so much like a goodbye. Maybe it was. He hugged harder.

“I’m _a_ happy old man, Bunny.”

As if that was _good enough._

Barnaby pulled away from the Kotetsu’s warm embrace and wiped his eyes on his sleeve one more time.

“Until next time, Kotetsu,” he said.  
“Keep working hard, Bunny. We’ll be cheering for you.”  
“Thank you,” he said. He turned around, only to turn back a moment later. Kotetsu hadn’t moved.

He now knew what he really wanted to know. Needed to know in case he never saw Kotetsu again.

“If you could trade it back,” Bunny said, desperation making the edge of his voice crack, “Would you? Would you go back to the way it was? Leave your family and be a Hero with me again?”

Kotetsu smiled. It was a sad smile. The only kind of smile Barnaby had seen him wear when he wasn’t talking about his daughter, since he left.

“In a second,” he said.  
Barnaby nodded.

“Thank you,” Barnaby whispered. Pursed his lips so he wouldn't cry. He wouldn't cry any more.

When Barnaby turned away again, he knew it would be years before they saw one another again. He _wouldn’t_ know that Kotetsu would watch him on TV every day. Buy every magazine with a feature of him. Buy Kaede all his trading cards.

He wouldn’t know that when he got hospitalized after his final encounter with an Ouroborous offshoot months later, Kotetsu would stop by the hospital, leaving flowers daily until he was released. Or that he always asked about him during his weekly phone calls with Antonio. Voted for him in the hero popularity polls, every single week, without fail.

He wouldn’t know that Kotetsu watched him walk away. Stood standing in place, watching Barnaby get smaller and smaller, until he was out of sight.

 

...and then he stood there fifteen minutes more.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: CONTAINS SPOiLERS FOR EPISODE 14
> 
>  
> 
> -
> 
>  
> 
> in light of episode 14 where Kotetsu's powers are changing (...) came up with the idea that maybe Kotetsu would lose his powers from this and live a normal life with Kaede and be happy.
> 
> A/N: THEN I MADE IT SAD.


End file.
